"Riku...? Whaa-?" The static of over the phone and sleep-haze drenching Sora's voice didn't sound pleasant, and grated loudly on the silence Riku had been previously surrounded with.

"I need to talk to you," the silveret whispered, simply because he feared his voice would sound hysterical if he spoke any louder.

"'ku…" Sora murmured, and a shudder slipped its way down the elder's spine. "It's… four in the damn morning. Can't this wait a couple hours?" The haze in the brunet's voice gave way to irritation.

"No."

"I… okay." Sora sighed, resigning. "Yeah, okay. I'm listening."

"No… I… this has to be done in person."

The irritation was back. "Riku!"

"Please…" was quietly murmured, and Sora felt a strand of worry and guilt wiggle its way into his heart. Riku had been acting strange since they'd arrived back on the Islands. Maybe he was ready to talk. And yet here Sora was, telling him to wait.

"Okay. Just let me throw some clothes on; I'll be at your place in fifteen." Slipping out of bed, the brunet stumbled towards the light switch. Flipping it on, he pulled on a pair of discarded jeans.

"I… I'm not at home."

Picking up the t-shirt he had on earlier, he paused in his dressing. "What?"

"I'm on the play island, Sora, sitting on the Paopu tree."

The worry in his gut bloomed into fear and Sora yanked his shirt over his head. Snatching a flashlight, he stumbled to the door. "Okay. I'll be there in thirty minutes." There was a pause, and the only sound was Riku's soft breathing from the phone. "Riku… don't…"

"I'm not doing anything besides sitting here. Promise."

Letting out a gush of air, Sora whispered a quick "okay" in the phone before snapping it closed. Switching the light back off, Sora slipped from his room.

The darkness of pre-dawn had nothing to do with the way Sora stumbled his way across the bridge leading to the Paopu tree. He wasn't sure why he was in such a hurry, because he could clearly see Riku was just sitting on the tree's crooked trunk, staring out across the water.

He slowed down to a brisk walk as soon as his feet hit the sand of the small island, not wanting Riku to think he hadn't trusted him, or something, even though it was likely the silveret had heard his shoes thunking on the wooden planks only seconds prior.

"That was quicker than thirty minutes," the elder boy began offhandedly, not once taking his eyes away from the dark horizon.

"Uhm, yeah," Sora began awkwardly. "It's kinda chilly; didn't want you to have to wait longer than was—"

"Sora, it's okay. I know you were just worried I had gone all Dark again. It's no big deal," he said flippantly. Wishing he couldn't read his younger friend so easily, Riku finally cocked his head to the side to look at him. "Will you sit?"

Sora scrambled up onto the trunk beside Riku, and the two fell into a silence. For Sora, it was very awkward. But he couldn't be sure if Riku felt the tension, as well.

After minutes of no sound other than the waves, the brunet began to fidget, wondering why his friend would have called him if they were just going to sit.

"There's a reason for this," the silveret began, and Sora felt himself jump as the quiet was broken.

Riku didn't continue, so Sora prompted him to keep going with a quiet, "Oh?"

"Mm'hmm…"

Now Riku was stalling, and azure eyes hardened in irritation. He reached up to tug on a platinum strand. "Why?" he deadpanned.

Aquamarine eyes found cerulean, and suddenly Riku found his throat too dry to form words.

Something in his face must have changed as well, because Sora got a wild fear in his eyes before he yanked his head back for more distance from his friend. (Riku hadn't even realized he was leaning forward…)

"R-riku?" he asked, even though he knew why the silveret had wanted to see him; why he had been acting so strangely since their return not a month ago.

A humorless smile tugged one side of Riku's lips upwards, and he ducked his head; silver hair curtained his eyes from view. "Shoulda know…" he murmured.

"I-I'm sorry, Riku. I don't… feel that way about you… I, I like Kairi…"

Turning back towards the ocean, one pale shoulder rolled in a dismissive half-shrug. "I know. Just figured it was worth a shot, ya know? I'd never of forgiven myself if you had felt something and I had been too scared to even ask."

"Riku…"

"Go home, Sora. It's almost dawn – your mother will be wondering where you've run off to. You know how early she gets up."

He didn't look over his shoulder, even when he heard the door to the shack close.

Ocean-green eyes cast upwards, and the silver-haired boy wondered which one of the shining lights were stars, and which ones were worlds. An instinctive impulse to grip at the left side of his chest flared, but he reached up and kneaded the shoulder instead.

After all, the hurt was only a moment in time, and although Sora's reaction wasn't what he was hoping for, it was certainly along the lines of what he had expected.